Tag: Nature Literature

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Nature Literature and Step Gently Out

Step gently out,
be still,
and watch
a single blade
of grass.

I want to introduce you to another wonderful children’s nature study book, Step Gently Out. This book, written from the ant-eye-view, will inspire you and your children to perhaps look more closely at nature when you are outside together.

Read the pages, examine the images, and let your child tell you what he thinks of each and every page. Use this idea of looking carefully during your next Outdoor Hour (or even a quick minute or two if that is all you have).

In our modern world it might be easy to miss these opportunities to take a good look at our surroundings. This book will serve as a stimulus and a reminder.


This is one you can look for at your public library and then decide if you want it for your personal library.

Step Gently Out • A nature picture book for all ages from Step Gently Out on Vimeo.

I’m an Amazon Affiliate and only recommend products that I personally own (or wish I owned) and think my readers will love as well! This post may contain some links that will take you to these products on Amazon where I receive a small referral fee. I greatly appreciate your support!

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Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow – Literature and Poetry

This post contains affiliate links to a book I highly recommend and have in my own library.

This month I am really encouraging you to look for ways to use literature in your nature study. I want to share a new favorite book, Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadowby Joyce Sidman. This outstanding book is a treat for the eyes and an inspiration for your pens and crayons!

I love it when a book can engage young readers and Butterfly Eyes uses lovely poetry and clever riddles to draw the reader in. The riddles help the children use their imaginations and their knowledge of meadow inhabitants in way that makes learning fun.

So many meadow creatures are featured in this book. I know lots of you may not live near a meadow so this book will introduce many of the animals, insects, and plants you will find there, creating enthusiasm for a future meadow visit with the narratives and illustrations.

The format is poetry riddles that your child will guess to identify the meadow creatures found on the following pages. The poems are on the over-sized pages…sometimes you even have to turn the book sideways to view the whole scene!

The end pages of the book are complete pictures of many of the subjects found in the book and are a great way to review once you are doing with the last page.

The style of the artwork is another great aspect of this book. Done with scratch art techniques, your children may want to imitate this style to create a beautiful scene for their nature journal or to display on your art wall.

Use the ideas in the November 2013 newsletter in the article I wrote on library books to help you get started reading this amazing piece of nature literature to your children.


Follow Up Ideas:

  • Identify the creatures on the dust jacket of the book.
  • Make up your own nature riddles.
  • Create a piece of artwork using scratch art. (Step by step instructions: Scratch Art.)
  • Memorize one of the poems in the book.
  • Pick one animal or insect from the book and create a nature journal page for it using a field guide

Look for other books by this same author at your library!

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Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter – November Nature Literature Edition

November 2013 
Nature Literature Edition

This edition of the newsletter is going to be a fabulous resource for you family. There are so many wonderful suggestions for literature that you can find at your library or add to your personal collection. Filled with practical advice and personal recommendations, the November 2013 Nature Literature Newsletter is going to encourage your family to try some new things as part of your nature study and the Outdoor Hour Challenge.

Contents of this edition of the newsletter include: 

  • 6 featured articles sharing varying aspects of using literature in your family’s nature study
  • November Study Grid and Printables
  • My Nature Book Report – printable notebook page
  • Coloring Page
  • Recommended study links  and suggested activities

I have attached the newsletter download link to the bottom of my blog feed so if you are a subscriber you will receive the link to the latest newsletter at the bottom of every post for the month of November. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can still subscribe and receive the newsletter link in the next post that comes to your email box. You can subscribe to my blog by filling in your email address in the subscription box on my sidebar.

Note: You can download your newsletter from the link in two ways:

 

  • If your link is clickable, right click the link and then “save link as” to save the file on your computer.
  • If the link is not clickable, cut and paste the link to your browser, open, and then save your newsletter to your computer.

 

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